March 19, 1964
Anna Carolina Alves Viana
The announcement of the Basic Reforms made by João Goulart at the Comício da Central do Brasil, on March 13, was still stirring things up
The Brazilian political and social scenario when Carlos Lacerda, governor of Guanabara, made a controversial statement about the then-president: "Goulart está fora da lei" ("Goulart is outside the law"). The headline was splashed across the middle of page 4 of
Jornal do Brasil
...of that day. The reason for the statement, according to the governor of Guanabara, was that Jango was legislating by decrees and ordinances, which would break the law, provoke the nation, and force the Army to "stand guard over the traitors of the Homeland."
Lacerda also claimed that Jango had received confirmation of military support from Russia to become dictator and that, for this reason, the president would want to prevent elections from taking place. He made direct criticisms of Jango's speech at the Comício da Central do Brasil, in which he had stated it was regrettable that "
portions that still remain considerable and that had access to higher education remain insensitive [...] to the national reality" and that these were responsible "for the Brazilian blood that might come to be shed by attempting to raise obstacles to Brazil's progress." Regarding this, Lacerda struck back and argued that Goulart
fala de sangue com a volubilidade de quem pensa não ter que derramar o próprio e sim o alheio, o sangue do povo para saciar a sua sede de poder
The moment was one of growing animosity and fear
the widely proclaimed 'communist threat' of the Jango government were already firmly established. Demonstrations against the prevailing order were already underway,
as occurred in São Paulo on that same day, the 19th, with the March of the Family with God for Freedom. Thus, Lacerda's statement added even more fuel to the fire of the coup plotting.
Image description: The image is a black-and-white newspaper page. It is divided into two main columns. In the first column, there is a large, prominent headline, "Goulart is outside the law, says Lacerda." Below the headline, there are several paragraphs of text. In the second column, there is also text, but with less spacing. The background is white and the text is black. There are no additional images or illustrations besides the text.Goulart está fora da lei, diz Lacerda
. Rio de Janeiro, 19 de março de 1964. Autor desconhecido. Fundo Jornal do Brasil/CPDOC/Fundação Biblioteca Nacional.